New! Habu Textiles Yarns and Kits!

We are so excited to have picked up Habu Textiles! These yarns are all about texture. We've been coveting and dreaming of carrying this inspiring yarn company for a while...



This is their beautiful 100% silk tweed yarn in a rainbow of lush tweedy colors.


This is my favorite, a silk and stainless steel yarn! It knits up beautifully--the fabric is silky soft, but the steel gives it a memory so that it crinkles with texture.

We also have the Kusha Kusha Scarf Kits, which will get you started knitting a gorgeous silk/stainless and merino scarf. We are working on one right now!


This is a pretty paper yarn, made with viscose. It makes a fluttery, light crisp garment.


One of Habu's most unique products is this super fine stainless steel thread. You can hold it along with another yarn to add the unique memory of steel to your project. We are also planning to experiment with it in our hand spinning!


We love this knit alpaca cord! We made this bobble scarf in about 5 minutes from just 2 1/2 yards of knit alpaca and 1/4 ounce of 4 bright colors of merino roving. Quick and cute!

Zach's Daybreak & Fancy Tiger Knit-Along

Hey guys! I just finished my DayBreak and I love it! When the pattern by Stephen West came in I fell smitten instantly and when the Zauberball from Schoppel Wolle came in I fell even harder for a color of variegated naturals, browns, creams and grays. So, sold on the color, I did a little research and Babel-fished the word Zauberball. The word means "charm ball" in German and what else could I do but run a little magic into the daybreak with this in mind. I used Malabrigo sock yarn for the stripes and chose "Light of Love" because I usually look pretty good in pinks and reds. I am casting a little spell that when I wear it the handsome-man-of-my-dreams will fall smitten, first for my daybreak and second for me! HA!
To top it off Amber and I ran down to our favorite ice cream shop for the photo shoot; Sweet Action, and I got a scoop of Hibiscus, my favorite flavor and an extremely potent aphrodisiac! Between the ice cream, the magic and the week it took me to make it, this knitter is bound to get a little sweet action of his own this spring.

I did things a little bit differently than the way the pattern called for because I wanted it to have purl ridges on every other stripe of color just to make it a little bit more textural. So on the last purl row of the stripe patterning I did a knit row instead. This pattern is super simple and fun and I hope that you guys give it a whirl. All that you need to know is knitting, purling, M1R, M1L, and slipping stitched.

We're so in love with this pattern we've decided to have Fancy Tiger's first ever knit-along! A knit-along is where we all make the same pattern, but of course, because of different colors and yarn choices, everyone's will be unique. Here's the scoop: you purchase your yarn and pattern here at Fancy Tiger Crafts (you can also buy the pattern directly from the designer Stephen West on Ravelry) and make your daybreak. You have until 5/1/2010 to bring in your finished daybreak for a photo and we will give you a $10 gift certificate! If you need help knitting your daybreak, you can always stop by craft night and myself or one of the ladies can help you out. We can hardly wait to see your Daybreaks!

Amber's First Quilt!

I just finished my very first quilt! Hooray!

Our darling shop dog, Branwyn, and I took a trip to the park to celebrate.


There are so many cute little prints that fly through Fancy Tiger--I can't resist them all, so I often get a quarter yard of this and of that. I decided I had to start to quilt with my little fabric treasures. For my first quilt I chose a lot of cute little Japanese prints in soft greens, teals and grays and some brighter prints in tomato reds. I sewed them up into a simple log cabin patchwork quilt top.


For the back I pieced together five strips of fabric in bright corals. The bold color makes me happy!


I'm kind-of-so-excited about quilting now. I've already started on my next one!

If you'd like to learn to quilt Fancy Tiger Crafts is offering several quilting classes, taught by our awesome instructor, Jessica. She's a quilting genius!

New! Crooked Fence Alpaca Roving and Mill-Spun Yarns!

We're in love with the new Crooked Fence Alpaca roving and mill-spun yarns!


These cutie-pie alpacas from a few small farms in Utah make the softest, warmest fiber. Alpaca fleece comes in tons of natural colors--white, beige, silver, rose-grey, charcoal, chocolate, natural black and everything inbetween. Crooked Fence then mills them into endless natural color combinations for tweedy and barber-pole style handspinning.


If you aren't ready for handspinning we also have alpaca yarns from Crooked Fence. These chunky, mill-spun, super soft yarns have the look of a beautiful handspun but are made in a small, local mill owned by the farmers, where they and other small alpaca farmers bring their fleeces to be processed into roving and yarn. They are so special and lovely!


And now, here is a cute baby alpaca for your viewing pleasure.


...or is she a baby unicorn?

Craftastic Pillow Project!

We were super excited to come across this amazing tutorial for making your own professional, zipper-closure pillows from Design Sponge.

We have all the gorgeous Echiono fabrics in stock so you, too, can have Design Sponge worthy pillows on your couch or chair!

Happy Crafting!

Tunic Time!

Or should we say Tunic Thyme! Jaime and I just went to Moondance Botanicals to photograph some of the cute tunic tops we've been sewing up lately. Our favorite herbalist, Tonja, runs this cute little apothecary. She served us some delicious herbal elixirs while we browsed the fragrant herbs and her handcrafted skincare products.

Here is our new Springtime Tunic, one of the classes on our Spring schedule. It is so quick and easy to sew--a really great first top for the beginner sewer!


And here are Jaime and I showing off our Schoolhouse Tunics. This is a quick and easy pattern by Sew Liberated. I love this 3/4 length sleeve top for cool spring days. I got crazy with mine and used two different fabrics and added some contrasting buttons and button loops. Different lengths can make it a dress, tunic or shirt.

With all the cute fabrics we have in stock right now, its time to get sewing and make yourself a tunic! We have lots of cute patterns and classes so there can be tunics for all!

New Joel Dewberry and Heather Bailey!

We just received a box of Joel Dewberry's new Modern Meadow collection! I can't believe how pretty it is!


We have only yet received half of this amazing collection...we cant wait for what is still to come. Here is a sneak peek:


Keep your eye on our Facebook updates and I'll let you know as soon as the rest of these lovelies arrive!

UPDATE! 3-3-10: They are here! The Modern Meadow fabrics are all here! Yay!

Also hot off the UPS truck--Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane laminated fabric. Perfect for waterproof table linens, bags, and aprons. Cute!


All this bright, botanically inspired fabric and warm weather is making me hungry for spring gardening! We are happy to have Baker Creek Heirloom seeds for sale in the shop again this year. Come by and pick out your heirloom seeds for growing Emerald Evergreen Tomatoes, orange and yellow Pineapple Tomatoes, Chantenay Red Core Carrots, Red Marconi Peppers, Big Max Pumpkins that can grow over 100 pounds, Chioggia Beets, Di Ferenze Fennel, edible Chrysanthemums and more. Yum!